Emmonsaspis
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| Emmonsaspis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Emmonsaspis 1886 |
Emmonsaspis is a fossil that was found in the Cambrian-age Parker Slate of Vermont in the late 19th century.
[edit] Description
Emmonsaspis is described as a tadpole or worm-like animal. No trace of a spinal cord is present.
There are two species: Emmonaspis worthanella and Emmonaspis cambriensis (Walcott(?) 1886(?) 1911(?)).
E. cambrensis has been described as a graptolite, a chordate, an arthropod and as a frond-like organism.[1][2]
[edit] Affinities
It was interpreted by paleontologist C. D. Walcott in 1911 as a polychaete worm. Although some paleontologists regard it as an early chordate allied with Pikaia et al., Conway Morris suggested in 1993 that it might be a Cambrian descendant of the Vendian form Pteridinium, and a frondose morphology is the current vogue.[3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Problematic Cambrian Fossil, Possibly a Primitive Chordate Fossil
- ^ The quest for chordate origins
- ^ Shu, D. -G.; Morris, S. C.; Zhang, X. -L. (1996). "A Pikaia-like chordate from the Lower Cambrian of China". Nature 384 (6605): 157–158. doi:10.1038/384157a0.
